dry rock vs man made

R

reeferjim

Premium Member
Touchy topic I'm sure, but what are the opinions of dry live rock vs man made ( real rock, life rock, DIY "oystercrete")? I want to avoid the pest problems of live rock, so I'm going with dry, but which would you go with and why? Thanks for your help!
Jim
 
With how cheap you can get dry branching, Fiji, or pukani rock, I wouldn't use any man made stuff. All the man made stuff looks fake to me.
 
I bought a cut on made ceramic rock and love it. It's completely covered in algae and corals now. It cost more but I would do it again. Here is a pic when I first set up the tank.
e59ef1c06fec38049b67ec27e2f03a75.jpg
alt="">

Here is a pic a couple months ago before I sold my colonies.
e7825d8e8715d6cfa9cfddb30e36867c.jpg
alt="">


Sent from pay phone in the airport.
 
Like yourself, I wanted to avoid pests, and the high cost of live rock. It becomes live rock in very short order anyway. So I made my own. It can be very difficult to make realistic looking rock. Practice helps, but may not ever make perfect in this case. And there is the time needed to "cure" the chemicals out of the made rock. I also have some tufa rock in my tanks that was 50 cents per pound at whiz-q-stone. It can be sawn easily with a hand saw to fit your space/shape requirements. And it is very porous if you get a good lightweight piece. It may not be a real looker either, but I have obtained some pieces that present themselves nicely, I think. I drilled the tufa so that I can peg my corals.




a cut on made ceramic rock? What?
 
I would just go with regular very porous dry rock, that's what I did this time on my 75, and I am so happy on not having any pests, aiptasia, bubble algae etc are a complete pain and nearly impossible to erradicate.

Also keep in mind you do not need to follow the common 1-1.5 lbs per gallon, IMO that is only if you use bad quality rock, good porous light rock does not require quite as much to provide filtration, aditionally you can get away with a very minimalistic look and put some Marine Pure ceramic media, a single block is sufficient for up to 300 gallons or more, looking at Eckolancer's tank, I am pretty sure that is what he is using, as the rock is very minimal and would likely not provide sufficient filtration by itself.

Just keep in mind that fish like rock because of the hiding spaces it provide, but if you intend to have tons of corals they can hide there just as well, just make sure you have enough biological filtration.
 
Thanks guys, I haven't decided yet, but I have time. I did dabble in the "oystercrete", I don't know yet, but it doesn't look bad. If nothing else, I can put it in the sump for extra filtration.
DFW...how long did it take for yours to "cure"?
 
It was 3 months of soaking in tubs outside, and changing the water every week. I also placed a rock, or 2 in the tank of the 2 commodes we have. Every flush provided new water. But you can't put much in there, and some may not hold any if they are the smaller water saver type.
 
HI David. Any special prep of the tufa rock? I googled it and it looks good, a lot like the live rock we use. I guesss it should as it was created in lakes and such.
 
Hi David. I just soaked it in tank water that I removed from water changes. I did no testing, just soaked for a few weeks, and then added a couple of rocks to the tank each week. I scrubbed it with a scrub brush to remove loose dirt, and rinsed with water hose.
 
@Oscarmk wrote:
I would just go with regular very porous dry rock said:
I do have one block in my sump always forget about that. Good call with the ceramic media. I've thought about adding coral tiles to my sand less bottom just so corals are easier to frag.


Sent from pay phone in the airport.
Click to expand...
 
I've been running the marine pure ceramic media for several months now and am very pleased with the results.
 
I took a shot at making my own, this is how it came out....
http://s1318.photobucket.com/user/jimpoteet1/slideshow/
 
@DFW wrote:
Like yourself said:
Like DFW, I have used Tufa rock in my tank along with natural rock. Once Tufa matures in a tank, you never known it didn't come from a reef. At my day job, we sell artificial live rock that looks and feels like a hunk of cement.
Click to expand...
 
@Baldguy wrote:
HI David. Any special prep of the tufa rock? I googled it and it looks good said:
I used tufa rock ONCE. Never again. It seemed ok at first but seemed to grow nuisance algae after a while, not sure if something was leaching out of it or what. And it used to be real cheap which is why I tried it, but price has gone up . I just bought some Marco rock for about $2 a pound and it looks far better.
Click to expand...
 
[attachment=0]rsz_11rsz_1rsz_20160307_140646.jpg[/attachment]an update on the oystercrete I made. This rock is about 4 months old.
 
I used some rock from Reefcleaners.org. Very happy with it. I had been using dry rock from DNA, but after doing some reading up on dry rock, it seemed to be public opinion that without curing it, it would leach phosphates. I didn't want any problems at all this time around. It can be had for a good deal. I paid $35 for 15# shipped. He cures it out so you won't have leaching problems and will also hand pick it for the tank size you have.
0cfbe697061df65aea7aa4eace53b572.jpg
alt="">

It's good. Look into it!

Reefcleaners.org


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top